LAUSR

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License The Villela et al.1 study showed greater preference and salt intake by hypertensive individuals over the normotensives one regardless of age. A relationship between higher salt preference and male gender and alcohol consumption was observed. Most sensitivity to salt is the elderly and afro-descendant hypertensive people. Salt sensitivity increase with advancing age.2 One of the reason is that the kidney is less able to either conserve sodium in response to dietary restriction or remove sodium after excess intake.3,4 Both aging rats and humans have a blunted ability to excrete an acutely administered sodium load.3,5,6 It has long been recognized that reducing dietary salt content has better blood pressure control. Also, it is now known that there are different degrees of salt sensitivity in the hypertensive and normotensive population. Therefore, in non-pharmacological treatment of hypertension, salt reduction is one of the most important interventions.4 However, diets restricted in salt are not well tolerated by most patients. Many attempts to substitute salt for other substances have been employed. The addition of oregano to the foods in the Villella’s study resulted in the preference for the lower salt samples in all groups studied.